Murphy Opens Up About 'Glee' Episode for Monteith

Glee Executive Producer Ryan Murphy is going into detail for the first time about the special memorial episode of the show that was written as a memorial to star Cory Monteith.

Speaking to Deadline, Murphy said it was not easy moving from the usually upbeat themes to deal with the heaviness of losing Monteith and figuring out how to handle his tragic death on the show. "It's been a difficult circumstance because we basically went straight from the memorial into [reworking] the two Beatles episodes, which I think are fun and optimistic, that we had always had planned."

Glee Holds Private Memorial for Cory Monteith 

He said he had spent the past week collaborating with others to write the memorial episode. "There were a lot of things that we had to decide -- how are we going to deal with his death? At one point, we were going to have his character die after an accidental drug overdose -- that was something we had considered. But we have decided that we're not going to have him pass from that. Basically, what we're doing in the episode is we are not telling you yet, or maybe not at all, how that character died."

Murphy said Monteith's death had already taken a toll on Glee's whole cast and crew, but he added that "the really difficult thing" is yet to come. "We start shooting the memorial episode this week. We're just now finishing it, and at the end of the week we'll send it to get approvals," he revealed to Deadline.

Ryan Murphy on Glee Tribute Episode for Monteith

"But I think it turned out to be a lovely tribute, and it's a very heartfelt look at how young people grieve... We loved Cory and we loved Finn and it feels like a huge loss and a huge heartache not to have either of them around. We're trying to craft an episode that's not just about us grieving but about a lot of the young fans grieving."